State Department Employee in the US Charged with Sharing Sensitive Information

The U.S. Justice Department announced on Friday criminal charges against Michael Charles Schena, a 42-year-old State Department employee accused of sharing sensitive government information online. Schena, a South Caribbean desk officer working in Washington, held a top-secret security clearance and had access to information up to the secret level. He was charged with conspiring to transmit U.S. national defense information to unauthorized individuals.

According to the Justice Department, Schena accepted payments for sharing information through online platforms since April 2022. Surveillance footage shows him photographing at least five secret diplomatic documents at his State Department workstation. Following this incident, he was arrested outside his Virginia home on the same day.

Schena has not yet entered a plea, and his lawyer and a State Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The criminal complaint referenced an invoice mentioning "CNY," believed to represent China's yuan, without specifying the content of the documents or the recipients.